Martin named national player of the week honorable mention

For the second week in a row, BYU running back LJ Martin has been named an Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award National Player of the Week honorable mention.

Martin named national player of the week honorable mentionMartin named national player of the week honorable mention

TYLER, Texas — For the second week in a row, BYU running back LJ Martin has been named an Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award National Player of the Week honorable mention.

In BYU’s 38-35 win over Oklahoma State on Friday, Martin led the then No. 13 ranked Cougars in rushing with 20 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Early in the season Martin missed three game due to injury but has rolled up a combined 215 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns versus Arizona and OSU since returning to action. 

For the season, Martin has 256 yards on 49 rushes, good for 5.2 yards per carry. He also has four receptions for 53 yards and a total of six touchdowns.

Martin, a product of Canutillo High School in El Paso, Texas, was named to the 2024 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List by the Tyler Chamber of Commerce prior to the 2024 season. The award recognizes the top offensive player in college football who graduated from a Texas high school or is currently playing at a Texas FBS Division I school. In addition, Martin was named a preseason candidate for the prestigious Doak Walker Award and was also selected to the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big 12 Third Team.

As a true freshman in 2023, Martin led BYU with 109 carries for 518 yards and four rushing touchdowns. He was honored as a freshman of the week by the Football Writers Association of American in week three of the season after scoring two touchdowns and helping BYU to a 38-31 win at Arkansas. He also rolled up a career-high 93 rushing yards in a 27-14 win over Texas Tech. 

The watch list for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award will be narrowed to 16 semifinalists in November and five finalists for the award will be announced in December. The winner will be selected by a panel of broadcasters, journalists, previous award winners and fans and will be announced in January.